Tourism Ministers Meet in San José

THE fourth annual Latin American-Iberian Conference of Tourism Ministerstook place this week in San José, bringingtogether tourism authorities fromSpain, Portugal, and 17 countries in LatinAmerica.Francesco Frangialli, SecretaryGeneral of the World TourismOrganization, said at the conference thatdespite the negative effect that the SARSepidemic in Asia and terrorist attacks hadon tourism in recent years, he expectsworld tourism to have increased by 5%by the end of 2004.Frangialli also pointed to Costa Ricaand its role in the development of sustainabledevelopment as “an example on aninternational level.”His praise was echoed recently by thetravel magazine Recommend, whichnamed Costa Rica the world’s best adventureand ecotourism destination in itsEighth Annual Reader’s Choice Awards.The magazine’s readers are primarilytravel agents from around the world,according to the Costa Rican TourismInstitute (ICT).